Sarah & John's story
"We will see you all again next year when we’ll try for another baby!"
In 2015 I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. It was during this process we discovered that one of my fallopian tubes was blocked. We had been trying, unsuccessfully, to conceive for around 10 years at this point and so we were referred to the hospital for fertility treatment.
We were ineligible for treatment on the NHS because I had a daughter from a previous relationship and treatment at the hospital we were referred to was very expensive; we felt like we were at a standstill once again.
Whilst we were researching online, we came across the abc ivf website. We started reading more into it and found the reviews and testimonials incredibly helpful. Whilst the price of treatment at abc was the main deciding factor for us, we also really liked that abc use less drugs during treatment and that my health would be a priority - so we decided to book an appointment and give it a go.
We started treatment in July 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, and actually found the process to be really smooth. The first few initial chats we had were over Zoom and then we had a few physical appointments prior to treatment starting. The most difficult part was having to attend some of the appointments on my own, due to Covid related guidelines, but the team were absolutely amazing and made a real effort to put me at ease each time.
The treatment in itself went smoothly and 5 embryos were created as a result of our first IVF cycle. One was transferred and the rest we decided to freeze for potential future use.
After the embryo transfer, we were advised to wait until our in-clinic pregnancy test, but we were so nervous we decided to do a few home tests too. We were in absolute shock when one of the tests came back positive. We had been trying for such a long time and wanted this so badly, that this only made us even more nervous!
When the date of our in clinic pregnancy test came around, we were petrified. We wanted the positive pregnancy to be true so badly - and it was! They confirmed that I was indeed pregnant and a later pregnancy scan also showed that everything was progressing well. We both just burst into tears of happiness.
My pregnancy was quite smooth overall; the birth was a bit of a struggle as she was a very big baby but it was all absolutely worth it. She is the most amazing baby; we’re all just obsessed with her!
Initially I was quite worried about the age gap between my eldest daughter who is 12 and Delilah, however even this has turned out to be an incredible blessing. She loves helping me and I often overhear her play or talk to Valerie; their bond is simply the most heart warming thing.
My only advice to anyone who might be at the beginning of this journey is that it’s okay to be scared; I certainly was. We are very grateful that we were successful on our first cycle, but it’s important to be realistic about treatment, especially that it might not work the first time, but still be hopeful and just go for it - miracles do happen.
We would absolutely recommend abc ivf to anyone who needs private IVF treatment. The treatment journey is smooth as well as quick and the team are absolutely brilliant. We will see you all again next year when we’ll try for another baby!